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300W Heater

dissimulo

dissimulo

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Hi all,

I recently purchased a Juwel Lido 120 and have had the system up and running, with water, since Sunday of last week. I haven't yet started the fish-less cycle, nor do I currently have any fish in the tank. However, just now, I realised the heater that came with the tank is 300W. Apparently, the general rule of thumb is to have a heater of wattage 2.5-5 times the tank's volume in gallons. In my case, 100-200W being the recommended value.

Will I have to consider buying a less powerful heater? Or does the current heater have particular advantages in terms of room temperature fluctuations or heating the water quicker after having carried out a water change, for example?

Cheers,

Luke.
 
As long as it has an automatic thermostat it should turn of at the desired temperature so it will more than likely just reach that temp faster but it shouldn't go past the set temperature
 
Yes I do think think it is too powerful for that tank, the recommendation is 1w per litre so a 150W heater would be suffice.

Did you buy the tank new? if so I'd take the heater back and ask them to swap it for you.

The 2 main problems with using a heater that is too powerful are:

1. Because a more powerful heater heats the water quicker, it will turn off when it hits temp, then back on again once the temp drops. Because each time it comes back on, it heats the water faster than an appropriate sized heater would which effectively causes the water temperature to "bounce". The higher the power to more the temp will fluctuate which isnt good for your fish and the temp will fluctuate faster than if you are using the correct sized heater. Hope you understand what I mean.

2. If the thermostat fails and the heater sticks on, then the heater will 'boil' the fish much faster giving you less chace to spot it and correct.


Andy
 
Yes, Andy's #2 problem up there (the heater sticking in the "on" state) used to be one we worried about quite seriously as it happened to heaters with fair regularity. I do believe heaters have become much better, but the possibility is still there and so it still represents a lowering of risk to correctly size a heater.

~~waterdrop~~
 
Right, okay. I understand where you're coming from. It looks as though I'll be needing a new heater then. Any recommendations as to which make/model I should consider? Also, they guy who sold me the tank and equipment used to keep Discus. Could this have been why he used such heater?

Cheers,

Luke.
 
arobinson1984 said:
Yes I do think think it is too powerful for that tank, the recommendation is 1w per litre so a 150W heater would be suffice.

Did you buy the tank new? if so I'd take the heater back and ask them to swap it for you.

The 2 main problems with using a heater that is too powerful are:

1. Because a more powerful heater heats the water quicker, it will turn off when it hits temp, then back on again once the temp drops. Because each time it comes back on, it heats the water faster than an appropriate sized heater would which effectively causes the water temperature to "bounce". The higher the power to more the temp will fluctuate which isnt good for your fish and the temp will fluctuate faster than if you are using the correct sized heater. Hope you understand what I mean.

2. If the thermostat fails and the heater sticks on, then the heater will 'boil' the fish much faster giving you less chace to spot it and correct.


Andy
Click to expand...
Blimey !!!!! im just starting up on tropicals, now you got me worried, is there a chance of thermostat sticking, surely if you stick to branded equipment and todays technology and failsafes surely you should be ok, please tell me it was a thing of the past ( HOW MANY TIMES HAVE YOU KNOWN THERMO TO STICK )
 
It is more of a thing of the past but does still happen occasionally, it happened to one of mine about 3 months ago, lost about 8 fish :-(

As with anything electrical, failures can happen. I've found juwel heaters do tend to have a bit of a reputation for failures and it was a juwel of mine that failed. I only use external heaters now.

One of the best internal heaters are made by jager.


Andy

dissimulo said:
Right, okay. I understand where you're coming from. It looks as though I'll be needing a new heater then. Any recommendations as to which make/model I should consider? Also, they guy who sold me the tank and equipment used to keep Discus. Could this have been why he used such heater?

Cheers,

Luke.
Click to expand...

Yes it is possible that the last owner wanted a more powerful heater to keep the water at the high temp that discus require, on cold winter days a appropriately sized heater probably would have struggled at the job of keeping the water at 30c+

This is a quality internal heater -> Jager 150w


Andy
 
I dont think jager make a 125w model, or at least I've never seen it sold in the UK, may be wrong.

You could go for the 100w luke if you preferred, on the forum we've always tended to go by the guide of 1w per gallon which will give you a required sized heater without it being too powerful/not enough. The jager heaters may be a little more powerful than other brands.

Its better to go slightly over but not too much as you would be with the 300w. On a cold winters day when the ambient room temperature is low, heaters have to work harder to get the temp upto the required level and keep it there so if the heater isnt powerful enough it won't manage this. Obviously in summer it wont be an issue because with room temp being warm the heater wont be on the majority of the time, mine hasnt been on for about 3 weeks now unless its come on during the night but I dont think it has.

Upto you, go for the 100w if you prefer to pay a little less, it should be fine. :good:



Andy
 
I've found a reputable seller on eBay who deals in all EHEIM/general aquatic equipment and spares so I now have a choice between the 100w and 150w models. I'm tempted to get the 150w, besides most general guidelines recommending I purchase the 100w model. Any final thoughts?

Cheers,

Luke.
 
Excellent, thanks. Money isn't really an issue I just want to make sure I'm buying the correct equipment. I've recently been awarded quite a generous cheque from my School which I will put towards my 'fish fund' as it were. All I need to do now is source decorations to scape my tank once I get round to cycling it!

Cheers,

Luke.
 
What sort of decoration you going for?

Live plants? fake plants?

Do you prefer natural looking setups? or more fantasy looking?


My first tank had things like a shipwreck ornament etc, but I decided they looked tacky and now my 33 gal tank is a natural setup with bogwood and live plants, looks much better :)


Andy
 
I am aiming to achieve a natural look and so will, at some stage, be including live plants. I need to get ideas down on paper but I think the basis is as follows: a focal piece of bog wood with varying sized branches; reasonably large slate or granite 'stacks' sitting straight upwards in the sand, formed in height order; and a collection of rounded pebbles (in a white and/or complementary colour to the sand) sat in a mound. Plants will obviously sit near the back or in between various gaps among the hard décor.

Luke.
 
Sounds like it will be good :good:

Thats the good thing about a fishless cycle, plenty of time to throw ideas around and work out exactly what you want :good: As well as not harming fish of course :lol:


Andy
 
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